Apartments
by Faulty Paragon
Summary: After the battle for the planet comes to a close, Lio has some painful realizations to make. Thank goodness Galo's too dense to ever leave him alone. -Set a day after the movie.


A/N: I just watched _Promare _today, and my _god _it was excellent. It's definitely one of my favourite movies now, and I can't wait for my next chance to see it again. This is definitely very rambling and aimless, but... oh well. I'm still buzzed from watching it, so my thoughts will be jumbled for a while yet.

Let me know what you think!

* * *

Apartments

The extent of the truth only hit him the next evening, many hours after the battle against Kray Foresight had come to an end.

He had been sitting on the edge of Galo's ratty couch in a tiny apartment, wrinkling his nose and grimacing at the ungainly wallpaper left from renters past. The entire apartment smelled faintly of old pizza and protein shakes and sweat, the likely culprits being the thick stack of greasy takeout boxes and the set of dumbbells in the one corner of the living room that was free of furniture. On every flat surface, there were papers and magazines and dirty dishes, as if the apartment's owner hadn't been there in a long, long time.

Why Lio was surprised that this was the state of the energetic young man's apartment, he didn't know.

There was something to be said about this apartment, though. There were small photographs on the tiny dining room table tucked against the wall near a sink overflowing with plates. From that distance, he could make out the silhouettes of the Burnish Rescue posed heroically in one. A picture of Galo smiling cheerily in the hospital with Aina by his side, his arm wrapped in layers of bandages, was next. Another picture, sat in a nice, glossy frame, depicted a younger Galo standing proudly next to Kray Foresight in his firefighting uniform.

It was messy and dirty and a little pathetic, but… it felt like a home.

But it was only when Galo himself walked out of his tiny bedroom, carrying an armful of blankets and a toothbrush sticking sideways out of his mouth, his eyes bright and welcoming as he mumbled around the brush, "Whatcha doin', Lio? Put on your PJs! I gave you shorts earlier, right?" that Lio finally, truly understood what was happening.

He wasn't a Burnish anymore. All of the lifeforms from Promare were gone.

And Lio Fotia didn't have _anything left._

Immediately, his eyes widened and he scuttled backwards on the couch, drawing his knees defensively up into his chest. Glaring up at Galo, he hissed, "I'm leaving."

Startled, Galo dropped the bundle of bedsheets on the one armchair in the room, stepping over a stack of firefighting safety manuals on his floor. He pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth, kneeling down next to the couch. "What are ya talkin' about, Lio? Why would you leave-"

Lio had no time for it, his thoughts racing. His powers were gone. Since when had he last lived without burning bright constantly from the inside out? His hands shook, covered in soot and mud and grime after helping Burnish Rescue evacuate civilians from central Promepolis for over twenty-four hours since the conflict. He hadn't had a spare moment to actually think of what defeating Kray and saving all the Burnish would entail, but…

His eyes darted around the apartment- _Galo's _apartment. Galo had a place to call home- a place to call _his. _The assistance he gave the city as a part of Burnish Rescue would likely continue, even though the Burnish were no more.

Galo's life still had meaning.

And even on days where it might feel like it didn't, Galo still had this apartment, as grungy and sad as it was.

And what did Lio have?

_Nothing. _

He glanced up, sucking in his breath as he took in Galo's bewildered expression. The man's usual pompous bravado was nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by deep confusion and discomfort. His normally proud, broad shoulders were slumped, large hands clenched and white-knuckled in worry. His brow was furrowed, those large, blue, honest-to-a-fault eyes watching Lio dolefully.

Lio started to stand. "Don't stop me-"

"Did you think you were sleeping on the couch, is that it?" Galo asked, voice clumsily wrought with concern and embarrassment.

The pale man paused, staring at the larger man incredulously. He could barely even parse together Galo's words- was the man still stuck on a different planet?

Galo pouted, thick lips pursed in thought. "I'm not that bad of a host, y'know," he grumbled. "You get the bed. I put new sheets on the mattress, and left out some spare clothes, too- those should tide you over for the night, till tomorrow."

Lio gawped at him. "What… what do you mean, 'til tomorrow'?"

Blue eyes widened joyfully. "Aina's coming and we're getting you clothes, Lio! You can't walk around shirtless forever-" and he snorted, striking a pose, flexing his own muscles, and Lio gulped, eyes flitting over the way the light struck Galo's muscled, soot-streaked chest- although he'd never admit to it, "-'cause you'll never outdo me. Might as well get you decked out properly for work after the weekend!"

Feeling his face heat up, Lio immediately averted his eyes. What in the world was he doing there?

Then, the words finally sank in. Was Galo pitying him? What was this all about work, and getting clothes, and- and all of this _normalcy? _"I don't need clothes!" he spat bitterly, climbing to his feet at last. He needed to get out of this apartment. "What's even the point- I just-"

Galo stood upright once more, sliding in front of the front door. He crossed his arms over his chest, scrutinizing Lio's figure carefully. Lio recoiled under Galo's gaze. Without his Burnish flame, he felt so... small.

The taller man was still totally unaware of his utter turmoil. "You're still giving me that look!" he groaned, propping his hands up on his hips. "What happened to all your _soul, _huh?"

The pale man rolled his eyes. "Look, Galo, I-"

Before he could say anything, however, Galo had grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, guiding him towards the bathroom. "You're the guest!" Galo cheered over Leo's protests. "You get first dibs on the shower and stuff. Hurry up though, I wanna clean up soon. We've got an early start tomorrow, y'know?"

And so, clean clothes were dumped into Lio's arms, and he was forced into a tiny hovel of a shower before he could even blink. He attempted to protest, but the other man wouldn't hear of it. "Galo, let me out-"

"What are you gonna do, Lio? You can't break out of there now," Galo teased through the door, his voice fading into a hearty guffaw in the living room.

_You can't break out of there now._

Galo didn't mean it. Lio cranked the heat up on the shower and tore off his clothes, shaking like a leaf anyways.

The water took a good minute to properly heat up, but when it did, it became scalding within minutes. That heat was what finally broke him down.

He wasn't a Burnish anymore.

He wasn't _anyone _anymore.

The tears which rolled down his cheeks burned hotter than anything he had ever felt before. No amount of Burnish fire could've ever rivaled the searing, stinging pain streaking his cheeks, even though the water was enough to leave his skin red and raw as he scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, to no avail. No amount of cleansing could make him needed as the leader of Mad Burnish ever again.

Time passed. He paid it no mind. Galo found him huddled in a ball on the floor of the shower twenty minutes later. Lio barely registered the taller man's frantic voice filled with concern, nor the shutting off of the shower, nor the ragged blanket wrapped around his shoulders. With a grunt, Galo hoisted him to his feet, but Lio wasn't paying attention.

Only after the residual heat had finally faded away from his skin, leaving him shivering and shaking at the sudden _chill _of the world (was this what the world was truly like for humanity? Was it all really so cold all the time? How had he lived before his mutation? Try as he might, he just couldn't _fucking remember)_, did he numbly realize that somewhere along the way, Galo had dried and dressed him.

He groaned in embarrassment. On instinct, he reached into his heart, reaching automatically for his Burnish flame to keep him clothed and protected. It wasn't there, of course. Instead, he had loose basketball shorts and a t-shirt that clearly fit a chest like Galo's, and not Lio's.

The blue-haired man walked out of the shower and into the bedroom, a hopeful grin on his face. "Hey, Lio," he murmured, running a towel through his hair to dry it, "you doin' okay?"

Mutely, Lio nodded, eyeing the door.

With a sigh, Galo took a seat on the low, creaking mattress beside the shorter man. "Y'know, I… if you want, I can get Aina or… or the Captain or Remi to come up, or something," he offered at last, a rueful grin on his face. "I'm not the best at this kinda stuff." He frowned, deep in thought. "I don't think Lucia would be useful though. Maybe Varys?"

"What do you mean?"

Galo gestured over to Lio's slumped, weary figure. "I know that something's going on," he murmured, leaning back on his hands to stare up at a ceiling that had long been stained from water damage.

At that, Lio snorted. "Even an idiot like you can tell, huh?"

Galo huffed, "I'm not the smartest, but even I can tell that your fire's out."

Lio's eye twitched, still puffy and raw from his silent meltdown in the shower. Shakily, he stood. "It's nothing."

"Woah, where are you going?" Galo cried, immediately standing between the pale man and the doorway. "Where are you off to? You need to rest up!"

"For _what?!" _Lio spat. "Why do I need to 'rest up', Galo? Why am I here?" The ridiculousness of the whole situation began to wash over him, and baffled giggles bubbled up in his throat relentlessly. "What's the point of all this?"

The other man cocked his head thoughtfully, unsure of how to take in Lio's sudden laughter, his discomfort, his general aversion to Galo's apartment. "Um… well, we're buying you clothes tomorrow, and then if we have time we'll get you a dresser too. You need energy for that- I mean, _I _think my taste is good, but Aina always says that I shouldn't buy things for others, and... And, um, you're here 'cause... I mean, you live here now, right?"

Lio paused, raising a brow to look up at him. _What did you just say?_

Somehow, Galo heard his silent question. He grinned, baring his teeth enthusiastically as he jabbed a thumb into his own chest. "We're roommates, ain't we?" he cried with gusto. "I know it ain't looking great- I haven't been around lately to clean, but… I'll take care of it tomorrow evening, don't worry."

Lio blinked at him.

And blinked at him.

And blinked at him again.

Voice barely above a whisper, he asked, "We're… roommates?"

Galo nodded triumphantly. "It'll be great! And once the city is fixed up a bit more and our work slows down and Captain gets you a locker, we can put some of your stuff in there too, and we can move to a bigger place and-"

Lio leapt forward, glaring up into Galo's face. "What the hell are you talking about, Galo?"

The tall man watched him owlishly for a moment. "What doesn't make sense?"

The pale man sighed, shaking his head. It was all too much. "When the hell did we decide to-"

"During the battle!"

Lio's eyes widened as he saw a flush appear on Galo's tanned skin, the other man averting his gaze embarrassedly. Galo mumbled timidly, "I told you to take responsibility, remember?"

His mind's eye flashed back to right before their final battle, back to the all-devouring pain of the ship's engine core- back to the screams of the Promare and the other Burnish filling his soul with pure and utter agony. Even the memory of it caused painful heat to well up in his chest.

The thought of the Promare made the hole in his heart where they had resided ache.

And then, he remembered what Galo was talking about. The man had saved his life- had given him Burnish-style CPR, had rekindled and returned Lio's flame back to him.

Galo had kissed him.

The pale man sprang backwards, falling clumsily back onto the tiny bed tucked into the corner of the small bedroom. "That- you- what- no!"

Galo paled, expression falling into pure shock. "…No?"

Lio groaned. _Why is he such an idiot- _"No!" he cried. Rubbing his eyes wearily, he muttered, standing up again once more, "I have to go, okay?"

"Where?"

"Back to my people, my home, I don't _fucking know, _okay?"

"But…"

"But what?"

And Galo's face softened, the empathy welling up within those honest eyes enough to break anyone's heart. There was something else there, too, but Lio avoided thinking on that look too much.

There was too much emotion in Galo's eyes to put a name to what lingered within.

Finally, the firefighter murmured, "But… you _are _home, Lio. This is your home."

Lio felt his knees give way first, falling backwards to sit on the bed. There was no energy in his limbs to lift himself back up.

"But… I can't fight."

"You don't need to."

"I can't… use my fire."

And Galo grinned, wider than Lio had ever seen. "So?" Galo stretched, raising his arms high above his head, releasing all the tension in his built form when he finally relaxed again. Sighing contentedly, he teased, "You're still Lio Fotia, right?"

"…Yeah."

Galo beamed. "That's good enough for us."

Lio kicked him out of the bedroom immediately, slamming the door and barricading it shut despite protests and worried knocking from outside. However, the next morning, Galo's grin was a little too shiny, a little too knowing, and Lio's eyes were a little too red to hide the truth.

Aina showed him his new locker in Burnish Rescue's station. Lucia introduced him properly to Vinny, their station mascot. Remi handed him a small crate of hand-me-downs, since the conflict against Kray had destroyed much of the commercial and shopping districts, and "none of Galo's clothes will do you any good, unless you _really _like dresses".

And then, Ignis handed him a spare uniform, and the orange and yellow were tacky as all hell- and no one said a word when Galo gathered him up in his arms as Lio cried his eyes out, that uniform clutched in his hands for dear life, because barely a moment had passed since his entire world had changed and yet… Galo had somehow managed to give him something to live for.

"I understand why you looked up to Kray Foresight all of those years," Lio would later say, many moons later back in their new, shared apartment just a block away from the fire station. "I understand why it hurt you so much to find out what he had done."

And Galo's eyes would sadden despite the large smile perpetually plastered on his lips. "Well, Kray's in prison, and the city's moving on, so that's good enough, right?" he would say, never asking further questions.

And Lio would notice that Galo didn't like bringing up Kray, so he would stop until the taller man was ready. But the thought would never leave his mind.

After all, when Galo lost his home, Kray had held out his hand. And for Lio, Galo had held out his.

And, even though he didn't know how much strength he had without his fire, Lio would do his best to never let go.


End file.
